China, Sweden, Alberta??

[vonVeezelsnider]

I know that there's a general agreement against political talk, but seeing as there's only 4 forum members from Alberta, of which two are largely active; and of those two, one still lives there... I Hope that this is appropriate to post.

When you think of the political dynasties of parties that have ruled forever, you probably think about China's Communist Party, or Perhaps Sweden's Social Democratic Party... Well you can add another party to that list... That's right, American buddies, the Cartel Canadian province that your country gets half its oil from, has been ruled by the same political party since 1971, and after winning a Landslide majority government tonight, in which the election was called twenty minutes after the polls closed- the result: a super-majority. The Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta will rule for an eleventh term, guaranteed to rule for 41 Years. No matter where I go, and no matter what I do, you just rarely see stuff with this kind of Longevity, so I thought It'd be an interesting C&G story for the day.

Albertans re-elect historic 11th straight Tory government

Ed Stelmach speaks to cheering supporters in Calgary Monday night.

(CBC)

Despite an apparent appetite for change, voters in Alberta have gone with the tried-and-true, giving the long-ruling Progressive Conservative (PC) party an unprecedented 11th consecutive majority government, CBC News projects.

The Tories, who first rose to power in 1971, are leading or elected in 72 of 83 precincts Monday night.

About half an hour after the polls closed, PC Leader Ed Stelmach gave an acceptance speech to supporters in Calgary.

"In this election, Albertans had a real choice and it was Progressive Conservative," he said to the cheering crowd. "We have shown we're not afraid to tackle tough issues. We're not afraid to lead.

"As Progressive Conservatives, we can be very proud of our accomplishments, proud of our record and in this election, we've shown we have new ideas, new energy, new leadership for a new century."

Driven by the booming oilsands, the province is grappling with major growth pressures, including a lack of affordable housing and aging infrastructure, as well as balancing environmental concerns with the massive oilsands developments.

Continue Article

The results Monday night signal that voters are willing to let the Tories continue to manage the province's prosperity, and to give leader Ed Stelmach the chance to prove he can bring change to Alberta, despite the fact that his party has governed the province for almost four decades.

Stelmach took over from brash, former premier Ralph Klein in December 2006 and has tried to distinguish himself as a measured politician who can engineer a plan for the province's future.

Political analyst Bruce Cameron said Stelmach's victory was "spectacular," highlighting that the rookie leader is on his way to more seats than former premiers Don Getty or Ralph Klein garnered, and at a level not seen since the days of Peter Lougheed.

[FAPTurbo]

Holy Sh*t! Steady Eddie actually did better than Ralph?!

[loki]

wow.. the wiki article on that party seems broad. seems that it has gone through many more ideal shifts than you 'd tihnk other parties have had. I skimmed it .. alittle deep... seems to be a quite broad party for the most part, or at least a very varied history.

I doubt this will get more than a few hours of media coverage, if that. not because of it's importance or un-importance...."we" just won't care.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Now that the votes are counted... He's carried 73 of 83 Precincts, or 88% of all precincts.

@Booyah- The record was 75 Set by Peter Lougheed in 1982... So he came within 2 Precincts.

[CARBIZ]

Keep those oil royalty cheques coming!

Ontario endured more than 40 years of Conservative rule, ending in 1985 when Bill Davis was defeated by David Peterson of the Liberals. Interesting side note: Peterson promised to bring in government-run auto insurance. He never did. The public threw him out of office after only one term, electing Bob Rae of the NDP party, who also promised to bring in government run auto insurance. He, too, was kicked out of office after only one term. Hmm. To this day, Ontario enjoys the highest auto insurance rates in North America.

[G_Man72]

Holy Sh*t! Steady Eddie actually did better than Ralph?!

Actually, Ralph had a total of 74 seats in 2001 I believe. I find it funny that all the talk leading up to the election was how the liberals were going to take seats AWAY from the PC's. HA!!!! This province will never elect a liberal government, thank goodness.

The problem with winning so many seats in his first election is that he has no where left to go but down.

Congrats to the PC'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vonVeezelsnider]

We won't elect one largely because of "the curse"

[G_Man72]

By "the curse" I assume that you are referring to the NEP that Trudeau brought in and ruined the local economy, sent people into bankruptcy, ruined peoples lives?

[vonVeezelsnider]

No, the curse is the fact that no party after being ousted from power in Alberta history has ever come back to run things ever again.

[G_Man72]

Never heard that before. At least today isn't a total loss, at least I learned something.